Using TRACFED data,
Editor Tim Bross noticed that 72% of the FBI's convictions in
the Southern District of Illinois -- just across the river from
St. Louis -- involved drugs. This meant that the FBI in Southern
Illinois topped all other 89 districts in its war on drugs. By
comparison, the percentage of FBI convictions that involved drugs
was 6% in Chicago and 24% in St. Louis itself. Reporter Roy Malone
talked to everyone involved. While the U.S. Attorney defended
his priorities, many judges and civil rights leaders wondered
why the FBI wasn't spending more of its time on other business
such as official corruption, white collar crime, and protecting
the environment. Malone's front page article ran on March 30,
1998.